Vocal Chain Connections

[tone_aot]

Hi folks! I wanted to post a question about cables today. I just got a compressor and i'm going to be getting some new cables. I wanna get 2 1/4 cables to go from the mixer main outs to the stereo compressor, and also i'd like to try some new 1/4 to rca cables to go from my compressor to my audiophile 2496. I don't want to spend any more than $25 for all these cables. I don't need long 1/4 cables so do you think i could get some mogami cables in this price range? The mixer and compressor are gonna be almost right next to each other. Maybe 6 inch cables. As for the 1/4 to rca cables, i'm gonna need 2 10 inch cables. Would there be any substantial sound improvment by switching to something besides radio shack 1/4 to rca cables? Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

 

[scrubs]

I suspect mogami cables, even short ones, will be out of your pricerange. Short of making your own cables, I think www.markertek.com has some really well-built cables with good components for not too much money. However, 4 cables for under $25 is still quite a stretch. If you have to keep it that inexpensive, you might have to settle for radio shack.

 

[Farview]

YOu would be better off getting insert cables for the compressor. That way you can hear what the compressor is doing. You will still need the cables to go from the mixer to your soundcard.

Radio shack cables sound bad compared to mogami's, but you need a good enough monitoring chain to be able to hear the difference. At this stage in the game, radio shack will work for you, they just won't last very long.

 

[tone_aot]

I'm already able to monitor via the mixer. As far as compression, i've had a compressor before and i understand compression techniques and sound. I just got a new one tho, actually the same one i sold after i realized i shouldn't have sold it! I guess $25 was a bit low for 4 cables. What is a realistic price i should look at for these four cables? I'd atleast like to get the 2 1/4 cables right now.

 

[tone_aot]

What about these?

1/4 to RCA

http://cgi.ebay.com/RCA-to-1-4-Pair...ryZ23783QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


TRS


http://cgi.ebay.com/3-BLACK-2549-MO...2QQihZ009QQcategoryZ41460QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[EDAN]

Go to this ebay store and search. They have tons of cables and sizes and a million other things. Their cables seem to be very good quality at a very good price. Almost 20,000 feedbacks and not one single negative, that has to account for something.

SpeakerRepair

 

[tone_aot]

Wow. Great link Edan. I don't know why i didn't run across this store with the search function.

 

[tone_aot]

Did a bunch of a/b last night between listening to the mic just thru the mixer then listening to the mic after it's passed thru the computer. I noticed a huge difference. I'm losing midrange after going thru the computer. The whole time, i thought it was the mic or the preamp that made it sound like that. With just the mic coming thru the mixer, this mic sounds awesome! I'm wondering how much better it'd sound with a real preamp! I've been griping because i couldn't get the midrange i wanted but it's all there. So as a result, i know it's got to be the radioshack 1/4 to rca cables goin to the audiophile 2496 that's screwin it all up because the soundcard has a good sound. What's a really good pair of 1/4 to rca cables cost? I found some monster ones in the link i posted earlier but they were dj cables. I want some ment for studio use.

 

[tone_aot]

Found these instead of the dj cables.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/prod...HiDefinition-Patch-Cable?sku=339031&src=00633

http://www.zzounds.com/a--2676837/item--MONMSLCM

Gonna search ebay to try to get em cheaper.

 

[Farview]

DJ cables are no different than studio cables. Cable is cable. I personally don't buy Monster because of their deceptive business practices. Proco, mogami, canare, are all good brands.

 

[tone_aot]

Alright i'm totally confused now. I've been reading about the compressor hookup and all these different cable types are confusing the mess out of me. I know yall are probably sick of me posting but please help me learn how to do this correctly. Before when i had a compressor, i ran the main outputs of the mixer to the compressor with some crappy guitar cables(which i know was wrong but didn't have the money). Then, i ran the output to my soundcard via 1/4 to rca. This is how i want the setup because i don't run a whole mix thru the mixer, just record one thing at a time and i like to compress on the way in. Now. About the cables. In the setup that i'm going to use, what is the correct type of cable i need to run from the main outs on the mixer to the inputs of the compressor? I got confused because i don't use inserts but everyone says to use trs cable.

 

[tone_aot]

DJ cables are no different than studio cables. Cable is cable. I personally don't buy Monster because of their deceptive business practices. Proco, mogami, canare, are all good brands.

Yea i read about that. I'm gonna get the mogami rca-1/4.

 

[Farview]

Assuming the outputs of the mixer are ballanced, you need TRS 1/4 to 1/4 to go between the mixer and the compressor. Then you need TS 1/4 to rca to go from the compressor to the soundcard. I'm assuming the mixer is 1/4 output. That is what you need if you don't want to use the inserts. (which would be recomended)

 

[tone_aot]

OH ok. I don't have any inserts on my mixer. I got a cheap one. Thanks for the info. Never realized how expensive the good cables were tho. For the price, they should be far superior to these cheap radio shack cables i got.

 

[Farview]

OH ok. I don't have any inserts on my mixer. I got a cheap one. Thanks for the info. Never realized how expensive the good cables were tho. For the price, they should be far superior to these cheap radio shack cables i got.

YOu should hear the difference in tone and they will last you decades. I'm still using the same Proco guitar cable that I was giging with in 1987.

 

[tone_aot]

YOu should hear the difference in tone and they will last you decades. I'm still using the same Proco guitar cable that I was giging with in 1987.

Wow! I was only 2 years old then! Maybe i should consider proco also. Is mogami really that much better?

 

[Farview]

Wow! I was only 2 years old then! Maybe i should consider proco also. Is mogami really that much better?

It's kind of like anything else, once you get beyond the low line crap and into the premium stuff, the differences between brands gets smaller and smaller. Some people claim to hear a difference, but these same people have tens of thousands of dollars in monitoring and room construction, and it's still just a slight difference.

Moving up from Radio Shack to a mid-level cable like proco will be a big jump for you. Anything beyond that is just gravy.

 

[tone_aot]

Gotcha. Well, i'll be ordering some of the cables this week. In all, i'm gonna get two trs cables(output of mixer to input of compressor), two 1/4 to rca cables(output of compressor to input of audiophile), and two rca cables(output of soundcard to input of mixer). That should provide a huge difference considering all of those cables are like 1 year old radio shack cables(that have probably degraded even more in sound quality over the past year).
I really appreciate your help!